3-[(2H-1,3-benzodioxol-5-yloxy)methyl]-4-phenylpiperidine compounds are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. For example, paroxetine, also known as (3S,4R)-3-[(2H-1,3-benzodioxol-5-yloxy)methyl]-4-(4-fluorophenyl)piperidine, is widely used as an anti-depressant agent (Patent Literature 1).

However, the structure of paroxetine includes a benzodioxol ring, and in general, compounds having such benzodioxol rings are converted to chemically highly reactive metabolites when metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP), and are known to irreversibly inhibit the activity of CYP by inactivation based on the covalent binding with CYP (Non Patent Literatures 1-3). In fact, paroxetine is reported to cause drug-drug interactions by inhibiting the CYP-mediated metabolism of several drugs that are co-administered with it clinically, and some of these are contraindicated. To solve this problem, a compound has been developed having a deuterium atom substituted for a hydrogen atom on the methylene carbon of the benzodioxolyl group of paroxetine, but no such compound is yet in commercial use, and the effects have been unsatisfactory (Patent Literature 2). Also, it is known that compounds containing deuterium generally require higher production costs. As a consequence, to solve this problem there is a need for a method that does not use deuterium.